Amy Jo Giovannone, consultant and abstractor, and James Coffelt, co-owner of the two-year-old company, explained they work with landowners whose properties have prior mineral reservations in place. The company will trace abstracts as far back as 1850, to identify original reservations that can render subsequent reservations obsolete, allowing current landowners to enter into mineral leases. They cited examples of successful recapturing efforts they have completed in Harrison County.

Services are offered on either a $25 per-acre basis or on a contingency basis in which the company receives 10 percent of the value of leases resulting from their work. Commissioners were given copies of both types of contracts for review by the county prosecutor.

In an unrelated matter, four bids were opened for a vehicle for the Emergency Management Authority.